New Memorial Listings

New memorial data for individuals, crew, stations, squadrons and groups have been added.

View memorials

Meehan, Noel Stephen Joseph

Request an edit Submit a photo

Personal Information

Rank Sgt
Forename(s) Noel Stephen Joseph
Surname Meehan
Gender M
Age 23
Date of Death 29-12-1943
Next of Kin Son of James and Josephine Meehan. Husband of Bridget Agnes Meehan, of St. Keverne, Cornwall.
MEEHAN NSJ

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster I
Serial Number DV399
Markings QR-R R-Roger

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery
Grave Reference 9. B. 3.
Epitaph ONE OF THE DEAREST, ONE OF THE BEST, MAY GOD GRANT HIM ETERNAL REST

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 1
Panel Number 73

Enlistment Information

Service Number 551830
Service Royal Air Force
Group 5
Squadron 61
Squadron Motto Per puram tonantes (Thundering through the clear air)
Trade Wireless Operator
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Other Memorials

Location Birchwood Way, Birchwood Estate, Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Brick Memorial & Inscribed Marble Obolisk
Memorial Text To the memory of the Air Crews and Ground Staff who gave their lives whilst serving with No 50 Squadron and No 61 Squadron, 5 group, Bomber Command The Royal Air Force 2nd World War 1939 to 1945. No 50 Squadron "From defence to attack" Operated from Waddi
View On Google Maps View On what3words
Location Memorial Gardens, Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Brick Memorial with Inscribed Marble Stone
Memorial Text Royal Air Force Skellingthorpe. My brief sweet life is over, My eyes no longer see, No Christmas Trees, No summer walks, No pretty girls for me, I've got the chop - I've had it, My nightly ops are done, Yet in another 100 years I'll still be twenty one. R
View On Google Maps View On what3words

Miscellaneous Information

Congleton Chronicle 15th January 2015: "Donald Thomas escaped the burning aircraft thanks to assistance of Sgt Stuart and spent the remainder of the war in a prisoner of war camp in the Third Reich. According to an account by Donald Thomas, the crew had been hand picked to perform a special mission on the 29th of December 1943, the details of which remain unknown. However, Mr. Thomas said that the crew would have received medals and “great distinction” had the operation succeeded. In his account, which appeared in the Chronicle on 28th December 1945, Mr. Thomas spoke of how the plane was “coned” by searchlights without earning and subjected to intense flak, causing the aircraft to burst into flames. Mr. Thomas was thrown across the turret, the wires from his oxygen helmet twisting round his throat and strangling him. His clothes and parachute were on fire. Tearing off his helmet, he struggled through the smoke and flames. The order to bale out had been given by the captain, Flt. Lt. Harvey, but Mr. Thomas was only half conscious. He then saw Sgt. Stuart waving to him and pointing to the escape hatch, and the sight cause him to take fresh heart and crawl to the hatch to bale out. Sgt Stuart was quite fit and unharmed and could have followed him out but, according to Mr. Thomas, he must have stayed to help the other members. The aircraft exploded shortly afterwards. Mr. Thomas’s parachute was badly burned causing him to descend at such a speed that on landing his body was driven a foot into the earth. His spine was damaged and his ankle was broken, with his face burnt. When he regained consciousness he blew his whistle to get help but civilians who came along kicked him savagely. He was later tortured in an attempt to make him divulge the object of the raid. Eventually his prison camp was liberated and he was repatriated. Following the tragedy, Mr. Thomas’s mother wrote to all the grieving families of the crew of R for Roger after her son returned home in 1945."
The special operation referred to in the Congleton Chronicle article was in fact a 'Windfinder' or 'Broadcast Wind' operation whereby experienced crews with good navigational skills would fly ahead of the main stream and report wind strength and direction back to England every half hour. The controller would then average the various readings and relay these to the remaining bombers. This was sometimes known as the Zephyr System. Flying ahead of the main force, these crews were exposed and needed to break radio silence to report their readings, making themselves vulnerable.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Click here to view

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/578/24
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/578/23

Fellow Servicemen

Please note that this list gives all the losses aboard the quoted aircraft and occasionally these may have occurred on an earlier date when the aircraft was not itself lost. Please check the dates of death carefully.

Carver R W (F/S)
Harvey G H (F/L)
Kennedy J S (Sgt)
Prouten K (F/S)
Stuart R (Sgt)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 29-12-1943
End Date 30-12-1943
Takeoff Station Skellingthorpe
Day/Night Raid Night (11% moon)
Operation Berlin
Reason for Loss Hit by flak which started a fire in the bomb bay. The mid-upper gunner tried to extinguish the flames but was driven back and baled out before the aircraft exploded

Honour This Person

Since 1945 the brave men and women who gave their lives whilst in the service of Bomber Command, to protect our country have been largely ignored and forgotten by successive governments.

It is now time to make that right.

Honour this person now

Events At IBCC

We have an exciting events programme here at IBCC! From Concerts with stars to our annual Salute to the 40s weekend, from Dinner dances to Family Fun Days..

Something for all the family!

View Upcoming Events
 
 
 
 

Please Wait

Close

Request An Edit

I warrant that the information i’m supplying is accurate to the best of my knowledge and I have the rights to provide this information.

Submit a Photo

I warrant that I own the copyright or have the correct commercial print licences in place for the images and or artwork I’m uploading.

Once submitted, your photo will be submitted for verification and will be shown on the database record shortly.

Disclaimer I acknowledge that I remain the copyright holder of the original document(s). I hereby grant copyright in the digital version to the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) and I consent to IBCC making digital copies freely available online under a Creative Commons non-commercial licence. IBCC may also use, reproduce or incorporate it into other works in any media, or licence its use for purposes of ensuring the sustainability of its Digital Archive and Losses Database. I understand that digital copies will be owned and controlled by IBCC, and I irrevocably agree to IBCC using and publishing digital copies however it sees fit, but always in line with its responsibilities to preserve and protect such ephemera.

Casualty Pack

IBCC is delighted to introduce a unique facility to link the Losses Database to the relevant RAF Casualty Pack on the National Archives website. This project is the result of on-going collaboration between IBCC, the MOD Records Office and National Archives, Kew. This document describes what Casualty Packs are, when they were created, the process of making them available to the public and then goes on to describe the process by which you can view the contents of the packs. Casualty Packs (CPs) were created by the RAF whenever there was serious injury or loss of life associated with operational activity within the RAF. This includes operational flying losses, enemy action due to air raids, road accidents either on station or even off-station if they involved RAF vehicles. Deaths due to natural causes in service or accidents that did not involve RAF vehicles did not generally give rise to a CP.

CPs were originally given a unique reference number by the RAF. Each begins with the letter ‘P’ and is followed by six digits, then an oblique (forward slash) and the finally the year in which the incident took place- for example P396154/42.

The CPs are in the process of being made available to the general public as they are passed from the MOD Records Office, Portsmouth to National Archives, Kew. This process requires some rework to the files which is very time consuming, so the process of making them all available to National Archives will take several years. They are being made available in increasing date order.

Once CPs arrive at National Archives they are assigned a unique AIR81 number, so each CP has both a P-number and an AIR81 number. Both are searchable on the National Archives website under ‘Search the catalogue’ and both are included on the IBCC website.

The AIR81 reference on the IBCC website is a link to the file on the National Archives website. When you click on it, the relevant page will open in a new tab on your browser.

There is currently no plan to digitise AIR81 files, partly because they are fragile and partly because the information they contain can at times be sensitive, even harrowing, since they may contain exhumation reports and even photographs of corpses. Family members wishing to read the AIR81 files relating to their ancestors are advised to exercise caution and be guided by National Archives warnings where appropriate.

There are two means for accessing AIR81 files- to attend in person or to order a copy by post.

To attend in person, the attendee should first create a Reader’s Ticket. This can be done online by following this link: https://secure.nationalarchives.gov.uk/login/yourdetails. Then click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and click Order in Advance. Enter your Reader’s Ticket number and state the date on which you intend to visit. National Archives will have the file ready for you when you arrive, saving you time. When you visit Kew, you must quote the Reader’s Ticket number and take along two forms of ID- one bearing your signature and one bearing your address. When you view the files, you are permitted to take photographs of each page, should you wish.

Alternatively, if you wish to order a copy by post, please be aware that there is a charge for this service based on the number of pages in the file. Click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and then click Request a Copy. There is an £8.40 charge for National Archives staff to access the file and give you a quotation for the copying service. The process takes around 24 days to complete and can be expensive.

IBCC wishes to thank the staff at the MOD Records Office and National Archives for their engagement and assistance in making this facility available to our website users.